


Faulty Lies

by disillusionist9



Series: Choose Dare [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Azkaban, F/M, Gen, Murder, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 05:41:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7922659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disillusionist9/pseuds/disillusionist9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble #6 out of 100 | Vernon is blind to change, and Lucius has no patience for it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Faulty Lies

All the attempts to squash the magic out of Harry had been utterly, completely, and thoroughly unsuccessful. The attempts likely made that pox of magic within him...worse! And what more, as if standing too close to a bucket of pouring water, all of his manic squashing splashed some of that vile residue onto Vernon.

It was a gradual realization of his contamination. He'd gone to the optometrist on more than one occasion to check his sight (which he was assured was perfect, thank you very much) to see if the apparitions he saw were the onset of losing his peripheral vision. Every time the brat came home from that freak school to squat in his home over the summer the shadows gained more definition. This only angered him and spurred him to take it out on Harry.

By the summer after Harry's third year at Hogwashers, Vernon was starting to second-guess his sanity. If his vision were perfect, that was the only logical conclusion. He would chortle to himself and remember that crazy people didn't recognize that they were crazy.

It was unfortunate the boy had a maniac as a godfather, he was sure he was getting close to completely eradicating the filth from him.

The years continued to pass and Vernon continued to descend into discomfit over his fading condition. No amount of ice cream and Petunia's cooking could absolve this creeping feeling within him, though he consumed as much as he was able to see if maybe he just wasn't eating enough. Hunger? Indigestion? Fatigue?

Ultimately this culminated in what his wife would later call "a fit of emotional fatigue". Vernon was taking his lunch in London on a Thursday afternoon. Though it was overcast a pair of sunglasses was firmly planted on his face, cutting into the bridge of his nose. Not one thing had gone right so far. His breakfast was burnt due to Petunia's hands shaking, something about a call she'd received from the clinic that morning about his frequent medical concerns. He would need to take _another_ day away from work to go to the surgery to be told to lose weight _again_. He was late to work trying to grab some breakfast at a drive thru then the greasy sandwich fell apart on his suit, soiling his tie beyond repair. Both hungry and angry he tore off the tie and wore his coat buttoned completely the whole morning to hide the stain. By lunch he was extremely irritable and had fired two of his subordinates. The burst of rage he exuded when he was then tripped by something he could only see in the corner of his vision was therefore entirely understandable, as was his subsequent attempt at physical violence against the person closest to him.

Unfortunately for Vernon, the man closest to him was a wizard, and one that was not fond of Muggles at all. If he had not driven his entire considerable weight towards Lucius in a tackle that would make any rugby professional proud then that would have been the end of Vernon. As it was, it is extremely difficult to nonverbally and wandlessly Avada someone, and you really have to mean it for it to work anyway. Not for a lack of meaning it Lucius was more concerned with catching his breath and getting the boorish and obstreperous man off of his chest. His defense before the Wizengamot during the charge of Muggle-baiting was a case of accidental magic throwing the man from him, soaring ten feet in the air before smacking down on the ground next to him in a dead faint.

The Wizengamot was troubled when it rested its collective gaze upon Vernon Dursley. What to make of this Muggle man, who had no record of an even slightly magical core, emanating a strange magical signature. The Hogwarts records were very detailed about that sort of thing, even Squibs, and the records had never been found faulty to date. As law dictated, however, a magical person or someone who knew of magic whether they could or would use it or not, must be tried as a wizard.

Holding cells for Muggle-baiting and violence were in the lowest chambers of Azkaban. After the fall of Voldemort Lucius was not able to pay his way out of everything. The two week sentence in detention wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't put the bloody fucking Muggle responsible for his incarceration in the cell next to his. He would absolutely kill Mundungus Fletcher for tripping the egregiously fat man and causing this in the first place.

Vernon muttered in his sleep. Lucius suspected it was the residual Dark Magic within the rocks of the godforsaken island after so much exposure to the dementors. The island didn't need them any longer to ensnare the weak minded, so strong was the depression. After so many months in close contact with the Dark Lord for comparison, Lucius was able to meditate and function in relative peace. The incessant muttering, however, kept him awake at night.

At the end of their incarceration, two Ministry officials waited in the lobby for the men. Lucius tried not to pout with the absence of Narcissa. He was suitably distracted when Vernon walked into the room beside him. Watery crazed eyes stared at him unblinkingly. The resemblance to Wormtail in that moment was unsettling. After a few seconds of eye contact, Verrnon viciously broke free from the guards holding him and lunged at Lucius.

This time he was ready. Vernon the charging bull dropped to the floor, looking for all purposes as if he'd suffered a heart attack. Lucius made a mental note to have Narcissa pen his condolences to his family after the funeral services were concluded.


End file.
